Kiwi scientists have developed a rubber computer keyboard that can flex, stretch, and bounce if dropped.
Researchers at University of Auckland's Biomimetics Lab say the stretchable keyboard, made with a thin sheet of rubber, can wrap around any object.
"Imagine a world where you drop something, and it bounces back without any damage," says doctoral candidate Daniel Xu, an author of the paper reported this week in the journal Smart Materials and Structures.
"That's the benefit of these rubber devices that can flex and stretch."
It can also be made into a sensing skin for motion capture, which is useful for athletes, clinicians, and for new interactive gesture controllers.
